How To Replace A Bath Tub Or Shower All By Yourself

Jul 19 2010 - Posted by valarie

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If you are remodeling your bathroom, or you need to replace a busted or defective shower stall or bath tub, installing a new one in its place is often less complicated than many homeowners believe. Often, with a few steps taken to ensure proper preparation, installing a new shower stall or bath tub can be a simple, but laborious task. Here are a few tips to help make installing a new shower stall or bath tub as easy as possible.

Always measure when preparing to do any home improvement project. With a shower stall or bath tub replacement, measure the wall space, the fixture positions, the length of the plumbing to the hook ups, the cavity for the shower stall or bath tub itself and anything else that is relevant and particular to your specific application. Write everything down, draw it out, and bring it with you when you go shopping for a new shower stall or bath tub.

Do Not Change' Things Willy Nilly

The ease with which a shower stall or bath tub can be replaced is directly linked to how little you plan to change the layout of your bathroom. If you simply want to accomplish a swap, do not attempt to change the location of the shower stall or bath tub, do not attempt run pipe so that the fixtures can be on the opposite end of the shower to tub, and try to change nothing at all if you can. If this is a complete bathroom remodel, obviously this is not applicable. If that is the case, always be sure that you constantly double check your measurements for any change that you make.

Use The Same Size Bath Tub Or Shower Stall

Again, if you are simply swapping out a shower stall or a bath tub, use a replacement with the exact same dimensions as the previous one. This will make the job a lot easier, and prevent you from having to perform a lot of cutting and trimming to make a larger shower stall or bath tub fit. Be very aware, too, that a smaller shower stall or bath tub will present major problems as far as fitting goes, so try to avoid that as well.

Pay Attention To The Details

Remember where the fixtures were on the old shower stall or bath tub, and mark up the new unit accordingly. Often, the shower stalls and bath tubs come without any holes for fixtures, which means you will have to cut them out yourself. As long as you have measured everything well, this should be no problem at all for you.

Be Careful

Always be careful not to bust up either the old units or the replacement units, because you can unintentionally damage the walls, the pipes or the electrical systems nearby.